Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) senior leader and former Punjab Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema, while addressing a press conference in Ropar today, called upon the Centre to end the centralisation of entrance examinations. He said the present system had become vulnerable to paper leaks and recruitment scams, causing immense mental stress to students.Cheema said repeated incidents of paper leaks and irregularities in recruitment examinations had shattered the confidence of meritorious candidates who spend years preparing for competitive tests. He said such controversies were leading to anxiety, depression and, in some cases, even suicides among students.Describing the issue as a matter of national concern, Cheema said the Centre should review its policy of conducting a large number of entrance examinations through centralised agencies. He maintained that entrance tests for institutions under the jurisdiction of state governments should be conducted by the respective states, as was the earlier practice, while the Union Government should limit itself to examinations for national institutions. Cheema was responding to media queries seeking the SAD’s response to the Cockroach Janta Party protests in Delhi.He said over-centralisation not only increased administrative vulnerabilities but also weakened the federal structure envisaged in the Constitution. Empowering states to conduct their own entrance examinations would improve accountability and reduce the possibility of large-scale irregularities, he added.Referring to the NEET paper leak and recruitment controversies in Punjab, Cheema said repeated examination scandals had eroded the trust of deserving youth in the recruitment system. He alleged that several recruitment processes in Punjab, including those for Pharmacy Officers, Naib Tehsildars and Excise and Taxation Inspectors, had come under a cloud during the tenure of the present government.The SAD leader also alleged that the recruitment of non-Punjabis to government jobs and the appointment of outsiders to key administrative positions were depriving Punjab’s youth of employment opportunities.Replying to a media query, Cheema demanded that accountability be fixed for every paper leak and recruitment scam, asserting that no individual, irrespective of position, should be spared if found guilty.He also criticised the Bhagwant Mann government over its handling of employee issues, pending flood compensation, the sanitation workers’ strike and the state’s financial condition, alleging that the government had failed to fulfil several commitments made before the 2022 Assembly elections.